Love Sick Giggles
by kelseypaige
Summary: Tenten has loved Neji for ages. Neji has loved Tenten for- wait. Neji doesn’t love Tenten, right? So when Tenten finds someone new of the male species, what will our favorite Hyuuga branch member do? NejiTen with hints of ShikaIno. [continuous]
1. Of Giggles & Madness

**Love Sick Giggles  
  
By: Fallen Fantasist  
  
Summary: Tenten has loved Neji for ages. Neji has loved Tenten for- wait. Neji doesn't love Tenten, right? So when Tenten finds someone new of the male species, what will our favorite Hyuuga branch member do?  
  
Disclaimer: If the world were perfect, I would own Naruto, there would be more romance in Naruto. Naruto would become Hokage, make wonderful decisions, and marry Sakura. Sasuke would fall off the face of the Earth and rid us of his horrible presence, while Kakashi would take off his mask and show the world his damn hot face. The world isn't perfect...so...**

* * *

Neji watched as the brown haired girl he was currently sparring with stop in mid-flight with a dazed expression on her face and a light blush covering her cheeks. He watched as she lifted her hands up to cover the huge grin that had made its home where her mouth used to be, and his eyes widened in astonishment when she let out the most lovesick giggle he had heard in his entire 17 years of living.  
  
Wait.  
  
Hyuuga Neji, master of 64 Hands of Hakke, Gentle Fist, and Heavenly Spin, did not use such a gruesome word as love. No, no, no. That wouldn't do. Let us say she giggled a like-sick giggle. Yes, like-sick.  
  
Tenten continued looking out into space, as if Neji had damaged her brain instead of her body during their little spar. She let out another lov-, I mean, like-sick giggle, this one being even more high pitched and girly (if possible).  
  
Neji concluded in that short time (he is a genius, after all) that if one listened to the sounds that were being emitted from that brown haired girl too many times, one would honestly go mad.  
  
Now you see, although our hero may be a genius, he isn't very well educated in the female department. Although he has a hypothesis, he isn't quite sure why girls always seem to blush when he passes by, or why they giggle so damn much. All he knows is that he prefers shrimp ramen to beef ramen, and that he actually can change his destiny (courtesy of Naruto). Well, his father was able to, by killing himself, so Neji figured he might be able to too (in less violent terms, of course. We don't want to mark Neji's beautiful skin, now do we?)!  
  
The black haired man winced as yet another deafening giggle came from the smaller girl's mouth. He needed to somehow make her stop before she caused a catastrophe.  
  
"Tenten," using his lightening speed; he was by her side in a flash, staring and her with utmost curiosity, although, due to his great skills at hiding his emotions, to Tenten he just looked like he was staring at her. "Tenten," he repeated.  
  
The girl in question continued to look about 2 inches to the left of his head, and gave out a long dreamy sigh.  
  
"Tenten," he said again, the corners of his lips lowering just slightly. "Tenten." He increased his voice a notch, which really wasn't much. "Tenten."  
  
Neji is usually a very patient person. Usually. But it was getting very hard for him to tolerate it when the person he was supposed to be training with decides to stop in the middle of it and giggle. "Tenten!" he said, almost forcibly. "Tenten!" he grabbed onto her shoulders and shook her. "Tenten!"  
  
That seemed to do the trick, as Tenten snapped out of her daze, reached an arm down to her holster, and would have pulled out a kunai if Neji hadn't taken a hole of her arm to stop her.  
  
The white-eyed man was seriously worried, but of course, being a master of facial expressions, didn't show it.  
  
"Neji!" the girl gasped, as if she didn't realize he was there. Actually, she probably didn't realize he was there. "Wha- whe- wh- I- you! Neji!"  
  
It took him a lot of restraint to not roll his non-existent eyeballs and say, 'No, really? Where?'  
  
"Neji! What are you doing here?" Did he hit her head without knowing it during their training? Tenten usually wasn't this air headed.  
  
"Tenten," said he, "we were training, remember? Did you, hit your head or something?"  
  
A very suspicious blush made its way across her cheeks as she gaped at him open mouthed. "I- sorry! Gosh, what's wrong with me?" The way she was avoiding his gaze meant one thing: she knew exactly what was wrong with herself, but wasn't going to tell him.  
  
Him, being Neji, didn't push it. He shrugged as he turned away, getting ready to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"  
  
The nervous silence that settled between the two was uncomfortable. The black haired man frowned in confusion when he didn't hear a confirmation from Tenten. He slightly lifted his left eyebrow when he saw her looking at anything but him, twiddling her fingers together nervously- a sure sign of nervousness.  
  
"What is it, Tenten?"  
  
She saw the cool look on his face, impassive, as always, furthermore lowering her self-esteem. "Well, y- y- you, see- er, um, well..." Neji's left eyebrow continued its journey up his forehead at Tenten's stuttering. "Um." She gave a slightly discreet cough, composing herself. "I can't exactly come tomorrow because, well..."  
  
"Because...?"  
  
"Um." At this point, her face could put any ripe tomato to shame. "I- I've got a date." The way she said it was simple, almost with relief, as if she had overcome a huge barrier by telling him.  
  
"Alright," he said, calmly and composed. "Find me once you can." He walked away, leaving a poor blushing Tenten alone, wondering why he didn't seem to care- at all.

* * *

Of course, Neji was anything but calm and composed as he walked away. The breath-taking streak of jealousy that had flown through him at the word 'date' had put him off guard, making his breathing irregular and his fist clench unknowingly. His mind was racing with wonder.  
  
Why was he feeling like this? It's not like he owned Tenten or anything. He should've been ready for the time she would start dating men... men that weren't him. She had grown into a beautiful young woman, catching more than just a few looks from the eligible bachelors of Konoha.  
  
So why did the fact that she was dating make him want to ram his hand into a nearby wall?

* * *

**A/N: Whoo! My try at an on-going story, for once. Love it, hate it? Please leave me a review on your way out! Thanks! **


	2. Of Designers & Tiles

**Disclaimer: If you really want to read it again, go back to chapter one.**

* * *

**Of Designers and Tiles**

"So… have you seen Tenten lately?"

Upon hearing the words that were being asked by his egg-headed companion, Neji snapped out of his daze and was able to utter a very intelligent sounding 'huh?' before masking his expression with stone.

Lee, being the silly naive boy that he is, didn't catch the fact that Neji only listened to him when he was inquiring about a certain brown haired girl. He was in the hospital once again for over training.

"Well," he said, "I think she might be mad at me for some reason." He looked up at Neji for a comment from his hospital bed, but seeing that he wasn't going to be getting one, he continued, "You see… she usually visits at least twice a week, yet it's Saturday, and I haven't seen her once yet." After pondering a moment, he snapped his head up and asked with a concerned tone, "She's not… _sick _is she?"

"No," was the simple answer Lee got, but Neji added silent to himself, _'unless you count blushing and giggling as fatal symptoms.'_

"See?" said Lee, his mouth shaped like an 'o', as if he had just discovered the cure to cancer, "She must be mad at me!"

Neji stayed silent, letting the bowl-haired boy think whatever he wanted to. Truth be told, he felt somewhat _embarrassed_ that Tenten was dating someone- for reasons unknown.

Lee peered closely at his silent companion, trying to find an emotion on his unreadable face. He wasn't successful. Deciding to break the silence, since silences weren't really his thing, he asked, "Do _you_ know what's wrong with her?"

Neji, being Neji, was about to answer with his usually one word answer (no), but was interrupted by the exact bun-haired girl in question flying through the hospital door. She wasn't alone.

"Lee! I'm _so_ sorry! I didn't notice until halfway through my date," Neji inwardly flinched at the word 'date', "that it was already Saturday and I hadn't visited you once this week yet! I'm so sor- Neji!"

If Neji hadn't been glaring with utmost intensity at the unknown man that was currently threading his fingers through Tenten's, he would've noticed that it had taken her 11 seconds to notice his presence: a whole 7 seconds longer then usual.

He composed himself quickly, and raised an eyebrow at her, asking without words, 'what?'

"Wow… I guess I just didn't think I'd find you here…" she looked lost for words, her mouth agape, looking not too intelligent.

An awkward silence filled the room. Lee, as always, was the one to break it, asking cheerfully, "Aren't you going to introduce us?"

"What?" Tenten stared blankly at Lee for a moment before realization crept up her face. "Oh! This is Hiro. He's a junior designer." The guy standing next to Tenten grinned, showing off his perfect teeth. "Hiro, that's Lee," Lee smiled broadly with a trademark sparkle on his own teeth, "and this is Neji." Neji nodded, keeping his eyes on Tenten, emotionless, as always, and showed no teeth.

"Cool! You must be what's been keeping Tenten so busy recently," Lee teased.

Already squirming under Neji's gaze, Tenten blushed at Lee's comment. "Lee… don't… We haven't been out _that_ much."

The tall brown haired man, or 'Hiro', as he was called, put an arm around Tenten's slim waist, saying, "Then again, we've only been together for a week."

Neji's eyebrow twitched slightly.

"Actually," said Tenten, her usual air of superiority around her, "8 days."

Neji's eyebrow twitched noticeably.

Lee looked amazed. "Wow. See? You do go out a lot! At least, well, more then me. I lay here all day… and my hobbies include timing how fast I can drink a cup of water and counting ceiling tiles." The grin on his face was telling them that he wasn't at all sorrowful about it. "Actually, it gets kind of fun. Like just yesterday, I counted 235 tiles, but today I counted 246! And, the day before that, I counted 243. So, I did a little bit of math, and it averaged out to about 241 1/3, but since you cant really have a third of a tile, I figured there are probably 241 tiles. You know, rounding down." He grinned proudly at them, but his face soon fell when he saw the crazed looks he was receiving. Well, from Hiro. Tenten looked embarrassed, and Neji looked, well, like Neji.

"Er- well, I thought it was interesting…"

The silence that greeted him was deafening.

Lee swore he heard a cricket chirp.

Neji, starting to feel uncharacteristically sorry for his friend, broke the silence by standing up and coughing softly. "It was nice to meet you," he said quietly, to Hiro.

Hiro looked at him, as if sizing him up. "Same here," he said, although he looked anything but it. He turned to Tenten. "You ready to go?" Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed her hand and would've pulled her out of the room if she had not protested.

"Yeah, in a second." She walked over to Lee, shaking off Hiro's hold on her arm, and gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Don't count too many tiles while I'm gone," she said, teasingly.

Lee smiled weakly, still trying to figure out why they didn't seem impressed by his tile counting. "I'll try not to."

The brunette girl smiled. "I'll see you in a few days, ok?" At Lee's nod, she turned towards Neji, and tried to read his expression, but was failed considerably.

"Uh- Neji," she tried her hardest not to blush under his steadfast gaze, and congratulated herself for succeeding. "Sorry about my training absence. I've been, well-"

He cut her off. "Don't worry about it. You're a girl, grown at that. Your life can't be only based on getting stronger." He gave a nod to Lee, Hiro, and finally Tenten, "I'll see you guys later," before stepping out of the room and closing the door behind him.

* * *

Out in the hall, Neji had to school his expression to be able to keep it emotionless. What he really wanted to do at that point was to go back into the room and beat that 'junior designer' to a pulp. But of course, poor Neji, being Neji, couldn't do that. Dignity wouldn't allow it. Plus, he couldn't give Hiro the satisfaction of knowing that inside he was boiling with jealously.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait! I went on vacation to Yellowstone national park, and it was absolutely gorgeous. You should definitely go if you haven't already. Anyway, thanks for all the reviews! I'll try to update this at least once a week, if not twice.**

**Thanks to- ****Salem-Vampire-Witch-Hunter . Takari-san . Yoshimi Aki Hyuuga Uchiha . Yukina . Dark Nemesis 7 . Angl . h4t5uh4ru . Cookie6 . Nousama & Fwoggie - for reviewing!**


	3. Of Manly Moments & Gayness

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* * *

**

**A/N: Thanks to Miako for giving me the idea of using the inner-Neji.**

* * *

**Of Manly Moments & Gayness**

After battling with his inner self for a while, Neji concluded that he needed a vacation else he go mad. But Neji couldn't go on vacation because… well, because he needed to train. Yes, he needed to get stronger. He also needed to stop thinking about Tenten- oh God, he just did it again. He thought of her! It had only been, what, four minutes since he had left the hospital? And _already _his mind was centered on only one thing: her. Her soft brown buns atop her head, her unmarred skin, her petite little feet… He really was insane, wasn't he? Neji realized, while walking through the streets of Konoha, that he needed help, and he needed it soon.

He also needed to stop thinking about Tenten.

_But you don't want to, _said a very nasty green-eyed monster in his mind. _No, you _like_ thinking about her._

I do not.

_Yes you do. You _love_ the way her body is curved._

I do not!

_Tsk, tsk Neji! Denying the obvious?_

There is no truth in what you are saying you _stupid_ ugly green eyed-

"Excuse me?"

Neji snapped his head around and grabbed a kunai on reflex, but upon seeing the familiar aqua-marine eyes of Gaara, he let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding a raised an eyebrow in question.

Gaara looked forever amused. "I heard you mutter 'you stupid ugly green-eyed' and I was wondering if you wanted to continue that sentence."

The black haired man frowned upon realizing that he must've been talking aloud to himself and Gaara had heard him, mistaking the green-eyed thing he was talking about with himself. "Oh, sorry, I wasn't talking about you."

"Ah…" said the red-head, with a knowing smile on his face that made Neji feel extremely uncomfortable. "You know, talking to oneself is the first sign of madness."

Neji raised an eyebrow. "Are you implying that I'm mad?"

"What?" Gaara raised his arms up in mock horror. "Who me? Never!"

The Hyuuga shrugged by, saying, "I'm not in the mood, Gaara."

But the former sand-nin wasn't about to give up just yet. He slung an arm around the taller man's shoulder and said in a _ver_y soothing manner, "The boys are hanging out at Ichiraku tonight. Care to join?"

"Gaara, I already told you I am not in the mood."

Gaara widened his eyes as realization dawned on his face. "Neji Hyuuga! Are you telling me that you're, dare I say, gay?"

Neji stopped in mid-step. "What?" he said, incredulously.

"Oh buddy! Don't worry about it! Being gay is _nothing _out of the norm. I mean, everyone is convinced that Sasuke is gay. No need to be shy about it!" He grinned cheekily.

"What?" Neji, although he was noted as a genius, couldn't even _start_ to understand where the crazy babbling redhead got this idea from. Him, Hyuuga Neji, gay? As if! "Gaara, I think you might be mentally instable. I am not gay."

"Ahh… tsk tsk, _denial_. Buddy, it is _nothing_ to be ashamed of!"

The world, inside and out, was against him.

"I'm not," he said, a bit childishly. He had to restrain himself from sticking out his tongue as an extra bonus.

A glint came into Gaara's eyes. Neji didn't like the look of where things were going. "Prove it."

* * *

Six minutes later found the two in Ichiraku, one deliriously happy, the other on the verge of pouting.

"Hello boys!" Gaara glanced around, and upon seeing Sasuke, he added, "and, er, girls! Sorry we're late!"

Three pairs of eyes fixed themselves on a _very _frustrated Neji.

"Wow," said Naruto. "You were able to get Mr. Cold-As-Ice to come? Amazing!"

Chouji was eating his seventh bowl of ramen.

Sasuke said, "Hn," before lowering his head and sipping at his ramen.

Shikamaru was sleeping in his ramen.

"Wow," commented Gaara. "What a lively bunch we have here tonight, yes?"

"Yeah!" yelled Naruto, punching his fist up into the air and nodding a bit _too_ enthusiastically.

"Uh… anyway. We've got an important announcement to make!"

"No we don't!" denied Neji, a little to quickly.

This, of course, caught the attention of Naurto, Sasuke, and even Chouji. They all asked in unison, "What?"

"First off, Chouji, poke Shikamaru until he wakes up."

Chouji wined, "What? Why me? Naruto's closer!"

"Chouji, it's not that hard to remove your hand from those chopsticks that you have in a death grip and poke that lazy ass a few times." By the look on Chouji's face, Gaara had obviously given him one of his all-famous death-glares.

"Fine," he pouted and proceeded to poke the pineapple-head.

"Ehh…" said Shikamaru, swatting the chubby man's hand away. "Mmm… go away."

"Poke him harder!"

Chouji winced. "No! You don't know what he's capable of when he's mad!"

"Good for nothing retard." Gaara shook his head as he walked over to the lazy brown-haired man and punched him in the face, _hard_.

"Ow!" said Shikamaru, snapping his head up from his pillow of noodles, "what was that for?"

"Shikamaru. Number one: you've got soup running down your face. Number two: you _never_ sleep through one of our manly meetings." Neji raised an eyebrow at the word 'manly', "And number three: Neji's got a very important announcement to make."

Shikamaru continued to look at Gaara with half-lidded eyes. "And…? Why did you wake me up?"

Gaara's non-existent eyebrow twitched. He hit the stupid Nara again. "Just shut up and listen."

"Com'on!" yelled Naruto. "Tell us, tell us, tell us! I'm _dying_ to know!"

Gaara gave Neji a questioning look. "Well, what are you waiting for? Tell them!"

Neji almost squirmed- almost. "There's nothing to tell."

"Ok, fine. I'll tell them, since you're so damn shy!" He turned to face the guys. "Neji's gay."

Silence.

Naruto burst into laughter. "Oh, Gaara, that was a funny one."

"I am _not_ gay!" Neji cried hotly.

"Oh my gosh," said Chouji. "He _is_ gay!"

"No I'm not!"

A quiet voice came from the corner. "There's nothing wrong with being gay, you know."

Silence.

Neji glared. "Shut up, Uchiha."

"Hey hey!" Gaara broke in, while hitting Shikamaru. "Wake up, damnit! Anyway, there's no need to fight!"

"I am _not_ gay!"

Shikamaru lifted his head and opened his eyes groggily, fixing them on Neji. "What? Neji's gay?"

"No! I'm not gay!"

Shikamaru buried his face in his arm, once again, and mumbled, "So, what else is new?" before falling back to sleep.

"Damnit! I'm not gay!"

"There's nothing wrong with being gay!"

"I'm _not_ gay!"

"I will surpass Hokage!"

"Slurp. Another bowl of pork ramen, please!"

"Ok, ok! Calm down children!" Gaara but in, jumping on the tables in the process. "Since Neji won't agree to the fact that he's not gay," the red-head wisely chose to ignore Neji's snaps of 'it is not a fact!', "let's find a way for him to prove it."

"Ooo!" squealed Naruto. "This is getting exciting!"

"I've thought of a pretty good idea to make him prove it." The former sand nin grinned impishly. "I propose that we give him three weeks. Three weeks to woo a girl, get her to declare her undying love for him, and kiss her, with one of us as witness."

Neji's jaw dropped to the ground- literally. "No way."

Gaara shurrged. "Ok, then. By this time tomorrow, I'm sure you'll find plenty of Konoha's eligible gay men at your doorstep, begging for dates." He cast a very _suggestive_ look in a certain raven-haired man's direction.

"It's not like it's going to be hard, Hyuuga," said Shikamaru. "I mean, it's obvious that Tenten's head over heals for you. Just go tell her you love her, even if you don't, get her to kiss you, and obviously she's going to pour out her heart and soul to you."

Five pairs of eyes turned to glare at the extremely smart male.

"What?" said he, before going back to sleep.

Chouji scratched the back of his head. "I thought he was asleep."

"Stupid idiot," said Neji calmly. It was all a face though, because inside, his heart was beating irregularly. That damned pineapple head just _had_ to bring up Tenten's name in there somehow. He had a point, though. This _would_ be the perfect excuse to woo Tenten… but for some reason, Neji felt like he was betraying her somehow.

Gaara was watching Neji's expression, and saw the inner turmoil that he was going through. He reached over and gave him a friendly pat on the back. "I was just kidding, you know. You don't _have_ to do it."

After a moment of silence, Neji stated, loudly and clearly, "I'll do it."

**A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews! I wasn't going to post this chapter up so soon, but since you guys were all so nice and encouraging in your reviews, I decided to thank you all by posting this extra early!**

**I know you guys are all probably wondering why Gaara is so… happy. Well, I love this red-head dearly, and I couldn't imagine writing this story without him, so I decided to incorporate him. I mean, this is about 5 years later. You never know what can happen in the time span of 5 years. Also, the reason I made him to happy is because the demon that was inside of him is very wack. Also, I am _so_ sorry if I offended any of you Sasuke lovers in this! I just _had_ to make him gay. It's just too funny… -ducks as all the Sasuke fan girls and guys throw tomatos-**

**Thanks so much to- ****h4t5uh4ru . Kesshin . Nalio . Cookie6 . kashisenshey . Fwoggie . yurimineko . ino lover . White Witch . Miako . Souungo . Peter the Muggle . carrot stix . ****Kou Haruko . Angl – for reviewing!******


	4. Of Models & Rendezvous

**Of Models & Rendezvous**

Tenten walked down the streets of Konoha, her arms clasped behind her back, staring at her feet. She felt… weird. In a strange way that she didn't know how she felt. It was odd. Hiro was nice- he really was. He was also tall, sweet and dashing- everything she had ever wanted in a guy. But she didn't feel satisfied. Even through all the nice compliments that he had given her, even through all his talent and love, she wasn't satisfied.

That is why, on that particular hazy morning, walking towards the training site that she and Neji shared, Tenten knew that something was wrong with her. She knew that normal people weren't left unsatisfied after two weeks of dating their dream guy. She knew that she should be deliriously happy, or something close to that. But all she felt was confusion, and no fulfillment.

Even though it was foggy, she could see the dim outline of Neji, training, his fists glowing.

"Ohayo!" she called out, putting her bag down against a nearby tree and doing some warm-ups.

He gave a quick glance her way, nodded, and resumed training.

She watched his body move gracefully, and almost blushed when she realized what she was doing. She wasn't single… so that meant that she shouldn't be checking other guys out, right? But this was Neji, the same Neji that she had trained with since she was 12. It's not like she had any _romantic _interest in him, right? I mean, she didn't like him… in _that_ way, did she? No, of course not! Why would she love Neji… he was mean and cold…

He was also strong, and would protect her with his life without even thinking twice.

Tenten sighed, loosing once again. She loved him, and she knew it. No matter how much she tried to hide it, even deny it, she knew she loved him, and she hated herself for loving him.

Why?

Because, obviously, he didn't love her. He cared for her- she knew that. But caring wasn't the same as loving. A big brother cares for his little sister, a father cares for his daughter, a friend cares for a friend. Tenten didn't want to be a little sister, a daughter, or a friend. She wanted to be… his…

His…

"Tenten?" Neji broke her train of thought, grabbing a towel, wiping his face, and sitting down next to her.

"Yeah?" She snapped her head up quickly, wincing at the pain that shot through her neck. "Sorry, I was spacing out."

He shrugged, looking out into the distance. They sat a few minutes in companionable silence as the fog settled around them.

"I-"

Neji gave her a questioning look.

"Never mind."

She could feel the frustration welling up inside of her. It was always like this. He was so damn nice to her, so she couldn't be mad at him for making her love him. It was so hard to stand by him, train with him, and touch him, without making it more.

She was a girl, no doubt about that. And since she was a girl, she had a right to indulge into simple fantasies. Sometimes she would imagine herself and Neji on opposite sides of a field of beautiful flowers, frolicking towards each other, arms outstretched. He would catch her in a crushing embrace and whisper sweet nothings into her ear, while she would blush happily and all the troubles in the world would disappear from her mind.

* * *

Neji watched his female companion blush dreamily next to him, forgetting that he was there, once again. He got ready to wince on the upcoming onslaught of giggles, but surprisingly, they didn't come. Instead, she gave a wistful sigh, shook her head, and buried her head in her arms, further confusing the poor Hyuuga.

What had possessed him to take on that challenge? His life had been fine before that stupid redhead had decided he was gay. He knew that Gaara knew that he knew that Gaara knew that he wasn't gay. Gaara was just being the stupid idiot that he was, meddling in others' affairs and not worrying about his own.

Deciding that he wasn't going to get anything out of his melancholy partner, he sunk into his own train of thought, ironically settling on the female in question.

Hyuuga Neji was not the type of person to back down from any challenge, but a challenge of the heart was different. So it wasn't technically a challenge of the heart, since they were only questioning his sexuality, but it still felt like it. Ok, they never said that he _had _to woo Tenten, but he wasn't the type to go out onto the streets and try to make any random girl love him. Plus, he knew he probably wasn't that lovable.

Neji shook his head, deciding once and for all to just ask her out to lunch. He was about to open his mouth to ask her when he realized _another_ drawback. She wasn't single! She was dating that good for nothing designer… what was his name again, Hito? Himo? Hiho? Hiro? Oh yeah, that was it. Hiro. The guy that Tenten- _his_ Tenten- was so head over heals for.

Just thinking about it made Neji aggravated. This guy who probably couldn't even throw a kunai correctly was dating Tenten, a high-class jounin who deserved _so_ much more.

The silly voice in his brain told him that he didn't deserve her ether, but Neji opted to tell it to shoo.

He was going to ask her out on a friendly lunch rendezvous, and that was that.

* * *

"Tenten," Tenten snapped out of her daze as she heard her name called. She turned towards Neji expectantly, encouraging him to continue.

"Are you planning anything for lunch?" His voice was devoid of emotion, as always.

Tenten chewed her lip thoughtfully. Did she plan anything…? "Um… I'm not sure. Hold on, I need to check my planner."

She dug into her bag, and after searching for a while, triumphantly pulled out her planner, complete with a fluffy pink pen. She scanned her agenda for the day. "Hmm… let's see here… I've got a hair appointment at 11. That's weird, why would I have a hair appointment? I just had it cut! Ah! Oh yeah!" she looked back up at him. "Yeah," she said, "I'm busy. I've got lunch with Hiro, and after that, he's going to take me to his studio and show me around. He says I've got the figure of a model. Isn't that exciting? I might be able to model for his new clothing line. Which, I guess, isn't something I had planned for my future, but I think it would be pretty cool, don't you?"

Actually, Tenten wasn't all that excited about it. She wanted to be a normal kunoichi, but for some reason, whenever she was around Neji, she always seemed to change. Around him, she acted like she actually _liked_ dating Hiro, that she actually wanted to be a model. But the truth was, she didn't want to be a model. She just wanted to be a girl that Neji would notice, maybe even love. Apparently, being a normal jounin wasn't enough. She knew she wasn't worthy of the Hyuuga branch member who surpassed even the main branch. But she could try, and she would try, even if trying were in vain, even if trying meant she had to become a brainless model, she would do it, she would.

"Alright then," she watched him stand up and realized that he was going to leave. "Never mind then."

"Wait!" she cried, frantically getting onto her feet also. She faltered when he gave her a questioning glance.

_Common Tenten, you can do this._

She took a deep breath. "How about we train here again at the same time tomorrow and then go to Ichiraku and grabbed some ramen for lunch afterwards sound?"

Tenten saw Neji freeze for a fraction of a second. He turned around and gave her a small smile- or what she figured was a smile. It looked more like a grimace. "Sounds good. I'll see you tomorrow." With that, he walked away.

Did she just ask Neji out on a date, and did he just agree? What is this world coming to?

* * *

**A/N: I'm so sorry for the long wait! I just got back form a five-day camp and am exhausted. Thanks so much for all the reviews; I seriously fell over with astonishment when I saw the amount! Sorry I cant reply to any of them at the moment, my father dearest decided to cut off my internet for the month of August, so I'm actually posting this on my aunt's computer. Love and kisses to everyone!**


	5. Of Love Lives & Gal Moments

**Of Love Lives & Gal moments**

It had been exactly 8 days since the fateful incident at Ichiraku, and Neji hadn't gained an inch of ground where Tenten was concerned. Frustration was an understatement to what he was feeling at the moment, sitting in, ironically, Ichiraku, by himself.

That didn't last long.

"Oi," Shikamaru sat down to his left, looking almost as bad as he supossed he looked. "Having problems too?"

Neji shrugged. "Some what."

"Ahh…"

They fell into a comfortable silence, both men knowing that they were socially uneducated enough to carry a conversation with each other for an extended period of time.

"Women are troublesome."

The Hyuuga raised an eyebrow. "That was random."

"Don't you dare tell me you're not moping in here because of Tenten." He said it in a very matter of fact way that only fueled to anger Neji more.

"I wouldn't have to be worrying about that if it weren't for your stupid idea in the first place," he snapped.

Shikamaru gave a long yawn before resting his head in his arms. "That was Gaara, not me, you baka."

"Same thing."

The pineapple head only shrugged, placing the two into silence, once again.

"Why did you say women are troublesome?" Neji questioned after awhile, uncharacteristically opening up the conversation.

"Because they are," came the mumbled reply.

"Ino?"

"…Yeah."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Silence filled the air, once again.

"Hey, are you boys going to buy something to eat, or just take up space all night?"

"Sorry," they both said before heading outside into the cool night.

"What do you suppose I do?" Neji asked. "I'm not gay," he added with an afterthought.

Shikamaru frowned. "No one thought you were in the first place. Gaara was just trying to find a way to get you to ask Tenten out. The whole ordeal was troublesome."

"I don't see any of you guys dating- except Kiba. Why should I have to?"

They were quiet for a moment, both walking without a real destination. "All I've got to say is I'm glad it's not me."

Neji gave him a sidelong glance. "Even I'm better with women then you are."

"A constipated chicken is better with women than me," Shikamaru said, shrugging. "It doesn't really bother me. They are troublesome and unpredictable, happy one minute, sad the next. If you ask me, we're better off without them."

"Oh, and that's _not_ the reason why you're all down tonight."

"Well, some girls just don't seem to get the fact that Sasuke is indeed gay."

They both nodded in agreement, silently musing why the Uchiha, even after changing his sexuality, still had a better chance of getting a girl then either of them did.

"I've got 20 more days. Think it's possible?"

Shika shrugged. "In the world of Konoha, anything is possible."

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right."

* * *

"Neji!"

"W-w-what?"

"Just kidding, Tenten-chan!"

The girls burst into laughter, while Tenten silently fumed. She couldn't figure out what was so funny in this particular situation. After manipulating her to come hang out with them and Ino's place, they basically forced her to play this stupid 'Who's best' game.

Sakura giggled. "Comon, Tenten, you've got to admit that Neji-san does indeed have the best hair out of all the guys."

"Yeah, yeah," Ino said, with a wave of her hand. "My turn. Sakura, who do you think has the best eyes?"

The pink haired kunoichi blushed uncomfortably under all their gazes. "Erm, well, you know…"

"Forehead girl, common! We don't have all day!"

"Uh…" she mumbled something before turning into a shade of puce.

"What?" said Ino, a wicked glint in her eyes, "I don't think we were able to hear that…"

Sakura turned indignant. "Ino-pig, you heard. Stop trying to be difficult."

Hinata's quiet voice picked up. "Gomen, Sakura-chan… but I was unable to hear you…"

The pink haired girl blushed once again. "Ok, fine. Naruto. You guys happy now?"

Ino grinned. "I told you you liked him."

"I don't like him! I just said he had pretty eyes!" she continued before Ino could interrupt. "Ok, my turn. Tenten…"

Tenten wiggled uncomfortably. "Yeah…?"

"Who do you think has the… the… best… fighting style?"

Tenten signed in relief. "Oh, that's easy. Neji, of course."

Temari gave her a questioning look. "Wow," she said, "You sure answered that one quickly."

"Why do you guys insist on dissecting all my answers? There's absolutely nothing romantic at all in saying that Neji has an awesome fighting style!"

Ino raised an eyebrow. "You're the one who brought up the 'R' word, Tenten, not us."

"Well," said Sakura, giggling, "Tenten-chan _does_ train with Neji-san a lot. How could she _not_ notice his nice style… or shall we say, the way his body moves while fighting?"

"You guys," Tenten snapped. "I have a boyfriend, you know."

"Oh yeah." The girls frowned in distaste. "That one guy. The fashion designer."

"Yeah. Him. He has a name. _And _I'm modeling his next clothing line."

Ino straightened from her slouch. "What? You're going to be a model?"

Tenten frowned. "Well, it doesn't mean that I'm not going to do missions and stuff… Don't get all rowdy."

Sakura decided to speak up, her voice gentle. "Tenten-chan… why are you doing this? Why are you dating this guy that you so obviously don't like?"

Burying her face in a pillow, she answered, "Who ever said I didn't like him?"

A melancholy silence fell over the girls. Surprisingly, it was painfully shy Hinata that broke it. "Because you love Neji-niisan."

It came to Tenten as a surprise that she didn't even raise her head to deny it. It was surprising how easily she accepted it, how she didn't even utter a sound of protest. Did that mean that even after all these years, she was still madly in love with that Hyuuga?

The girls lapsed into uncharacteristic silence. After a while, Tenten said, "Yeah, you're right, I do."

So why did her voice sound like she had been fighting a battle, and had just lost?

* * *

**A/N: No, I have not died. A million sorries to everyone who has been waiting patiently (or not so patiently) for an update. I'm sorry if this chapter wasn't up to your standards, I know it's not my best work. Ehh… I even added a bit of angst to the mix, furthermore complicating my already complicated mess. –sigh- lol, well, hopefully I'll update sooner next time, but I cant promise you guys anything, since there's school and all. Anyway, thanks so much for reading!**

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**Love and kisses to:**

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**Teamgaifan: Yes, I haven't updated in a long long time… and your review just gave me such inspiration to write!**

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**AnimeFreakPerson: I'm so glad this cheered you up! And thanks for reviewing every single one of my chapters!**

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**DemonFireGirlHotaru: Wow… thanks, haha. I love long reviews, they warm an author's heart. **

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**Aryanne: Oh my gosh! Shikamaru is so my favorite character, too! He's so popular amongst us fan girls. Haha, whoo! Shikamaru Fan Club Extraordinaire! Oh, and some Shika/Ino romance wont be scarce in the near future…**

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**Bakutiku: A cookie…? I like white chocolate chip with macadamia nuts. **

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**HappyFanFicReaderGirl: I care a lot about grammar and spelling, too. It just makes things so much easier to read, you're absolutely right.**

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**Cookie6: Yeah… beating around the bush pisses me off too, but Neji and Tenten seem like the couple that would do it… in my opinion… haha**

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**Sharingank: I'm SO happy you like this! It means so much to me, especially since you're like this uber cool and awesome writer and I love each and every single one of your stories! You need to update Lionheart sometime soon!**

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**AphroditeMe: I know, I'm SO sorry I forgot Kiba! And don't you worry, I'm going to find a way to incorporate him in here somehow. I love that guy so much, especially without his hood. He's a little cutie, aint he? **

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**WickedFantasies: I absolutely _adore_ the Naruto Primers by Link and Luigi. I'm honored that you compared my story to theirs… haha. Neji and Tenten are probably my favorite couple too… since Neji is so cool and Tenten is basically the only girl that can fight. **

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**Fireblazie: Sasuke is… well, I'll let you think what ever you want to. I know that you like SasuSaku, but I don't. Sorry if I offended you by making him a bit off… actually, I don't hate him, he just gets on my nerves a bit. I really _do_ hate Sakura, though, so that's why I don't ever write that couple.**

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**Chibihatsuharu: Yeah, I know. Poor, poor Neji. I feel bad for him. -Evil chuckle-**

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**Bakutiku: Sorry! I didn't insult him… in a way. I only put out the assumption that he's gay… because I honestly think he must be.**

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**lemmings12: I know, Gaara is _very_ OOC, but it's hard to incorporate him into a humor story without changing him a bit. Plus, he was a nice and cute kid… so I'm sure eh would've grown up like any normal teen if he didn't have a sand demon inside of him and his father didn't want him killed. Poor baby… Yeah, thanks for the tip. It's actually _really_ hard to make a character that's not your in character because, well, they're not yours. Also, the characters in Naruto have so many mood swings (take Naruto for example. One moment he's exuberant, the next he's serious and angry). Ahh, the agony us authors have to go through. XD**

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**KageNoKatana: Yes, it's fate. YES! You're basically the only other person that's reviewed me that agrees with me on the whole Gaara issue. I'm so glad you like him that way! Moral support, whoo-hoo!**

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**Souungo: Wow… I'm glad you find this amazingly funny… -scratches back of head- it wasn't that funny… but what ever floats your boat dear. **

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**Takari-san: Yeah, of course Neji's not gay! I love him! And he belongs with Tenten!**

**Harada-Twin**

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**And thanks so much to:**

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**Bill the Cat . Fooliet . Angl . Ino lover . kashisenshey . Nalio . Cookie6 . Anon . NuttyScribbler . Chibi-youkai . The Muses . Tk and Zv . ****Cold-Blade . J.P. Yabao . Plumbwarrier37: . bubblekid . Firefly-Queen . Trickmaster . Yukina**

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**I'm sorry if I missed you… I had a maddening amout of reviews the last two chapters. **


	6. Operation HHFSH Stage 1 & 2

**Dedicated to Crimson fate for what she/he said about Sasuke:**

** "**I thought it was such a shame that you put down Sasuke as gay though...I mean really, if his abition in life is to kill Itachi and then to revive his clan...well, I think he is the last of his clan then."

**Thanks so much for the laugh.**

**

* * *

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**Operation Help The Hopeless Find Some Hope: Stage One & Two**

"Order, Order!" the notorious redhead tapped his purple plastic pointer stick on a nearby table importantly. "We are gathered here today to solve a potential crises."

"Gaara, shut up and get to the point," came the chorus of replies from the six other males in the room.

He frowned. "Geez. No one gets any respect around here anymore do they?"

More glares.

"Well," he continued, completely ignorant to his death wishers, "We _are_ here today to solve a potential crisis. It seems that we have over estimated Neji's ability to make Tenten fall in love with him. It's been two weeks. He has exactly 7 days left. Do you guys see the problem? That is 168 hours, people. Neji is hopeless. He is _not_ capable of this mission we have set for him, so it is our responsibility to assist him."

Sasuke spoke up, "So what do you suggest we do?"

Gaara grinned with an evil twinkle in his eyes. Rubbing his hands together anxiously, he answered, "I'm so glad you asked, Mr. Uchiha." Turning around, he pulled out a scroll and undid it. On it seemed to be a series of weird shapes and patterns.

"And what exactly is that?" asked someone in the crowd.

Gaara looked up from admiring his – picture thingy – and looked highly offended. "This is my amazing battle plan that I have slaved over for the past 3 days!"

The only answer he got was five blank stares.

"Ok, so I'm not Mr. Magic Marker. But this isn't the main point. The main point is that we're going to help the idiotic Hyuuga capture the woman of his dreams. So lets move on to Operation Help The Hopeless Find Some Hope: Stage One."

* * *

"I Am Hokage, this is Akamaru the Second, come in, I Am Hokage." A shadow sneaked across the open plain before hiding behind a tall bush. 

"This is I Am Hokage – I read."

"The Eagle has been spotted. Twenty spaces north, currently moving at a steady rate of .6 mph. Do you read?"

"Is the Sparrow with her? Over and out."

'Akamaru the Second' peered across the plain. Good thing he had super enhanced eyesight. "Yes, the Sparrow is with her. Currently latched to the Eagle's side."

'I am Hokage' made a weird sound that could only be described as an evil chuckle. "Don't you dare move. We'll be there before you can say 'Old Lady Tsunade'."

Old Lady Tsunade?

Three minutes of continuous foot tapping later, a very disgruntled Akamaru the Second stood with still no I Am Hokage in sight. The Eagle and Sparrow were gaining ground every second wasted waiting. He was about to abort all rules of registration when a sudden 'pop' was heard to his right.

A very annoyed looking 'Troublesome', a grinning 'Shuukaku', and an ecstatic 'Fountain of Youth' appeared.

Akamaru the Second frowned. "Where's the idiot?"

Funny how no one needed to clarify whom the idiot was.

Shuukaku rubbed the back of his head tiredly. "Ichiraku was hosting a 'Who can eat the most Ramen' contest. Of course he had to dismiss all thoughts of our very important mission to be a part of it."

Troublesome shook his head and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'troublesome' under his breath.

"Well, we best be off," said Akamaru importantly, "They're gaining ground every minute wasted."

"YOSH!" came Fountain's reply before speeding off at a speed way over the speed limit, leaving his three comrades behind.

Shuukaku growled in exasperation. "That stupid idiot. He's going to ruin my beautiful plans!"

Troublesome couldn't seem to find anything wrong with the situation. Obviously Lee wanted to take care of the mission by himself – so why waste his time and energy by trying to help out? Lee wouldn't fail. It was inconceivable for him to fail.

Akamaru was angry. He wanted to do something important. _He_ had waited three whole minutes just to do something important. But _no_. That stupid bowl-haired idiot had to come and ruin his glory. _Now_ what was he going to brag – er, tell – to Hinata about on their date tonight?

"Alright you guys," said Shuukaku. "Change of plans. Fountain will continue the mission while us three take a leisurely stroll in the park. Once we come upon the Eagle and Sparrow, we'll act all astonished to see them, alright?"

Troublesome raised his hand. "Question. Why do we have to do this when Fountain is already taking care of everything?"

"Because, you idiot, we don't want to miss out on the action!" and with that, arm in arm, the three men jovially set out on their leisurely stroll towards their destination.

* * *

'Jigglypuff' glared at his reflection. Just when he was beginning to feel something other than revenge in his heart, he was discluded. Yes, discluded. How could you exclude someone as wonderful and powerful and great as him in such an important time as this? 

He glared harder at his reflection. It was because that stupid Naruto was stronger then him.

Stupid Naruto.

But in an era such as theirs, appearances were much more important than strength. And obviously, hands down, he was _so_ much better looking then the baka Naruto. Yes, he was a lot better looking.

So what if he had a fetish with Pokemon?

* * *

There was no more need for alias names. 

Gaara sighed disappointedly. What he was expecting to be a wonderful turn-of-the-century battle turned out to be a horrible ok-I'm-too-afraid-to-fight-someone-wearing-a-green-jumpsuit-and-with-hair-like-your's-so-I'm-going-to-surrender-now fight. The stupid idiot even had the nerve to ask Lee where he got such a 'dashing' haircut like that.

There was seriously something wrong with the guy Tenten was dating. And he was going to find out just exactly what. But his plan wasn't ruined. It worked out fine. They had shown Tenten what a useless creature this man was. That was the point.

Tenten was busy glaring at all four of them suspiciously, her hand intertwined with Hiro's. "What is this all about?" she asked in a very matter-of-fact way that clearly said, 'Don't you dare tell me there isn't anything about this'.

"There isn't anything about this," said Lee, cluelessly.

Gaara slapped his forehead, and decided to butt in and use his manly charm.

"Tenten, dearest," he said smoothly, sliding in-between her and her date, forcing them to loose contact. "Lee here just wanted to see if your man here," he pointed at Hiro, who was fuming, "was a strong and brave enough warrior to deserve you."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "He's not a warrior, Gaara. He's a fashion designer."

_Since she brought it up, we might as well move onto stage two_.

"A fashion designer?" Gaara laughed maniacally. "You've got to be kidding me. This is a joke, right? Comon Tenten. You're a jounin. Why would someone as high ranked and talented as you date some low fashion designer who cant hold a kunai correctly and obviously doesn't have a very good sense of fashion?" he eyed the man's bright orange shirt with distaste. "Since you're a fashion designer, shouldn't you know that orange is _so_ not the new pink?"

"Gaara," Tenten said through clenched teeth. "Thank you for the fashion advice, now would you please remove yourself from my sight before I permanently embed a kunai into a place that would make reproduction for you impossible."

If she were talking to anyone else, they would've backed down. Even Kiba and Shikamaru back away a few feet from her excruciatingly painful death glare. Lee was over by himself fawning over a squirrel, in case you were interested.

"Whoa! Calm down there Tenten. Why doesn't your date stand up for himself? Who let's their _girlfriend_ fight for them?" Gaara turned to Hiro, "What kind of man are you?"

Hiro outright stomped his foot like a four year old and said with a pout, "I'll have you know that violence and fighting doesn't become me. The sight of blood makes me queasy."

Gaara threw back his head and laughed with all his might.

Tenten looked ready to permanently impale someone.

Hiro was slightly embarrassed and started to shuffle his feet.

Shikamaru was staring at the clouds with the ever-present crooked frown on his face.

Kiba was daydreaming about Akamaru and Hinata.

Lee was still fawning over a squirrel.

It just had to be a clueless (mark this one in your calendars) Sasuke that walking into the middle of the war.

"Hn," was uttered before all hell broke loose.

First to respond was Tenten. She reached into her holster and pulled out three kunai and a shuriken, throwing the shuriken at Sasuke and the kunais at Gaara. Of course, this led to Gaara ducking, which led to Hiro being impaled in his left arm with three kunai.

He screamed.

Yes, he screamed. Not just any scream. He screamed the scream that girl's scream when they find out that their boyfriend was cheating on them with their best friend. Of course, it was their use-to-be best friend.

But that wasn't the point. The point was that Hiro, clearly a man, just screamed an ear-splitting head-throbbing neck-aching girly scream.

Tenten ignored Hiro and pounced on Gaara, pulling out a kunai and repeatedly trying to slice open his face into a thousand different pieces. Gaara, of course, was preoccupied with trying to dodge Tenten's kunai of death. Shikamaru made a run for it since everyone seemed to be busy, praying that no one would make him go back to that 'troublesome' ordeal. Kiba realized he was almost late for his date with Hinata, and so off he too ran. At Hiro's scream, the squirrel that Lee was so occupied with scurried off at a very fast rate, causing Lee to run off after it.

Since everyone was otherwise occupied (or just not there), that left Sasuke to tend after Hiro. And tend he did. First, he gently pulled out the kunai, causing Hiro to whither in pain like a baby. A soothing "shh" was uttered from Sasuke's lips as he tenderly bandaged Hiro's arm. When he was all finished, he seemed to snap out of the daze he was in and glared at the man he just helped.

"Oh my angel sent from heaven!" cried Hiro, before flinging himself at the very scandalized raven-haired man and crying softly into his shoulder. "I was so sure I was going to just _die_ out there, and when I saw your beautiful face before me, I thought seriously that I was in heaven!"

Beautiful?

At this point, Tenten had stopped trying to kill Gaara. The two of them stared at the men in embrace.

"Oh my god," was uttered from Tenten's lips before she fainted.

"So, what's your favorite Pokemon?"

Awkward silence.

* * *

**A/N: ::grin:: I found some inspiration! Not really, but this chapter was so fun to write! Thanks to everyone who has been so supportive in your reviews! I'll try my hardest to get the next chapter out ASAP.**

**Oh, and cookies to anyone who can figure out which alias name belongs to whom. It really isn't that difficult. **

**Till next time!**

**Thank you so much to – Jmj102 :: misery-chick4 :: Crimsonpawwz :: AphroditeMe :: X-Mirai-X :: Souungo :: lexkixass :: Dark Nemesis :: Crimson Fate :: AnimeFreakPerson :: Bubblekid :: Bakutiku :: Pickled Death :: Takari-san**

**Sunlit A Colony- Wow, I'm so glad you like my version of Gaara. No one seems to agree with it.**

**DemonFireGirlHotaru- Thanks for trying to make the review long. I love long reviews. **

**Sharingank- What exactly does 'HUZZAH' mean? **

**-- for reviwing. Let's see if I can get boosted past 100 this time! Oh, and Happy Holidays everyone!  
**


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